Category Archives: Happenings

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I’m giggly excited about the Chicago Reader write up about the Supper Club that my husband are I are involved in. Our group met a year ago on a mushroom foraging trip lead by Iliana Regan of Elizabeth restaurant. We’re a bunch of people who love cooking, eating good food, and genuinely enjoy each other’s company. Since the beginning, the supper club themes varied (Ancient Roman, Viking, Victorian, Mesopotamia, Iron Chef: Sardine, etc.) and the food increasingly continues to improve due to newly learned techniques.

Additional pictures along with menus to the various themes are on our official Sup Club website.

Always on the mission for flavor combinations that I’ve never tasted, plating I’ve never seen, and ingredients I’ve never experienced, I typically don’t seek out simple food unless it’s a perfect baguette, good butter, or something of the like. However, I’m beginning to understand that I totally missed the point of what simple can be.

I met Chef Justin Behlke of Thurk through my friend, Melissa. They met on LTH forum where she offered to host one of his Underground meals at her place. He previously staged at Noma and wanted to bring simple, focused food to Chicago without all the drama of kitchen hierarchy. And so Thurk was born. After speaking to Justin, his passion and drive captured me.

Below are images from my most recent dinner a few weeks ago. Still amazed how complex everything tasted, yet how simple the ingredients were. Flakes of Alaskan maldon salt popping through the soft texture of freshly made cheese make my tastebuds squeal. Light pops of vinegar carrots cutting through the pan-fried pig face and warm pork broth caused me to close my eyes and wish the moment would never end. These pops of surprise tell me that simple can be complex with the right chef behind the plate

And let’s be honest — this is as close to Noma I am going to get for a while.

I started exploring Underground dinners a year ago and haven’t looked back. Creative and exciting food, fascinating dinner participants, and the warm welcoming into these chef’s homes really make it a unique experience every time.

My favorite Underground, One Sister, became Elizabeth restaurant so I sought out to get my fix elsewhere. I recently ate at Thurk Underground (post coming soon) and last night dined at Sous Rising Guesterant with Chef Jake Bickelhaupt (veteran of Alinea, Schwa, and Charlie Trotter’s). He and his wife, Alexa, host the dinners in their place in Uptown. An open kitchen leading into the dining area allowed us to see Jake plate as well as converse with him and give feedback throughout the night. Alexa did an amazing job making us feel right at home, pouring our wine and helping serve.

We booked out the entire table of 8 with our Supper Club so we didn’t have the pleasure of meeting anyone new, but Jake and Alexa genuinely seemed excited to have us. Jake’s take on American cuisine combined molecular techniques — where needed — for surprise. The flavors were inventive and bright. Execution was perfect and the presentation — stunning. I’m looking forward to seeing Jake obtain his goal of opening a small BYO restaurant and dining with him again!

Expectations tend to color how we perceive experiences. Will Ferrell movies for me are a good example: I find my enjoyment of his movies is inversely proportional to how much I expect to like it. Excited for Talladega Nights: blah. Ambivalent about Step Brothers: HIlarious!

Of course, this is very true for dining. I’m often scared to return to a restaurant that I tried a few years ago and loved. So much of the experience comes not just from the food, but also the ambiance, the company, and the diner’s past experiences. I think people tend to remember places more by the whole experience than a pure objective critique of the food. It could be the first time I had (and loved) sweetbreads (and realized there was nothing “sweet” or “bread” about them) or a fantastic wait staff. On the return visit if it doesn’t live up to my romanticized memory, I leave somewhat disappointed.

How does this all relate to Elizabeth Restaurant? My last One Sister dinner was one of the best meals I’ve ever had (Re: Spring Menu). Obviously I was quite excited to see what Chef Iliana Regan would do with a full kitchen and a staff to work with, but as our reservation drew near, it struck me that there was a chance the menu wouldn’t live up to my high expectations (Re: Mind Blowing). After all, it is a pretty ambitious project: three 10-20 course tasting menus with no overlapping dishes and they were only a few weeks into service.

I had the pleasure of eating the Diamond menu, the longest menu of the three offered. From start to finish, the magical presence of Mother Nature mixed with creativity peppered with molecular techniques kept my mouth happy and my taste buds jumping for joy with anticipation for the next course.

Chef Regan, once again, succeeded in crafting many courses that were truly mind-blowing. A few standout courses:

–Foraged matsutake mushrooms and juniper powder on top of cinnamon custard. The textures and flavors were unlike anything I had experienced before — anywhere.

–Loup de mer with apple cider gelee and sunchoke puree. I used my finger to get every bit of this dish.

Service is a highlight I rarely discuss, but the staff does a great job of welcoming and pampering you from beginning to end. It’s fine dining service in a casual environment. Wine pairings are also not to be missed. Scott Noorman has a passion for wine and it shows.

I’m happy to say that the transition from One Sister, Inc. to Elizabeth Restaurant seems flawless for Chef Regan. Again, I was a huge fan of the underground dinners she once held in her home and the food hasn’t let down at her newest “home” in Lincoln Square. Dishes on each menu change all the time — below were the courses served the night I went. Next month I am going to the Deer menu so I’ll be sure to post my experience of that menu as well. Looking forward to it more than words can say!

Apple Pie and American Caviar — salty and sweet

Pumpkin Experiment — Pumpkin gelee with cocoa nib consomme.

Serious about the details

Arugula Salad Sponge with goat cheese ice cream and sunflower ice cream along with various herbs and honeys

“I came up with this dish because I thought this is what a gnome would serve me if I was invited over to his house” is how Chef Iliana Regan of One Sister Inc. described the first of 25 courses served at her home.

And so the progression of whimsical genius and curiosity begins to show through each of Iliana’s dishes. Rarely has a tasting menu felt so cohesive. 25 courses, each seamlessly blending avant-garde/modernist techniques with mostly midwest/seasonal ingredients, many of which were foraged or grown by Iliana herself. Each ingredient on the plate serves a purpose while pops of flavor come through when you least expect it. Even the crowd pleaser course (whipped bacon fat, anyone?!!!) was so well rounded I was left craving a second beet marshmallow.

It is amazing how many of the dishes have been stuck in my head like a great song. Many of the flavor combinations were unusual — combinations that proved impossible to “taste” in my mind. Iliana’s skill in flavor pairing and creativity shine through each dish, such as pairing chicken liver with chocolate or creating a capsule of chamomile and cocoa nib that dissolves in mushroom tea. The vessels are also part of the fun — hanging glass orbs, owl mugs, licking the bottom of shot glasses and sucking the smoke out from underneath, and using your hand to impart the salt of a dish.

I am humbled and honored to have had the opportunity to join One Sister in its penultimate service, and I wait with bated breath for the opening of Iliana’s new restaurant, Elizabeth, slated to open end of this summer. I’m excited to say that Elizabeth restaurant is going to be a new extension of her home, described as a “dreamy log cabin”. I know she is currently growing, foraging, pickling, and prepping for her guests and I can’t wait to see what she serves us at her new “home”.

The El Bulli meal at Next was part museum, part history, and part homage. Many of the inventive items on the menu were created over 10 years ago which shows the genius and innovation behind Ferran Adria and what he did for the culinary world. He played with foam, spherification, and liquid nitrogen. He pushed captivating flavors and unusual textures. These influences are seen all over menus today. After trying to get into El Bulli in Spain for 5 years, I feel humbled and honored to have been part of Chef Dave Beran and Chef Grant Achatz’s interpretation.

Sometimes words can’t begin to capture experience or emotion, so hopefully our photos say a thousand words. The meal was exceptional — the food, the service, the techniques, and the consistent flow of surprises. In one word: inspirational.

Nitro Caipirinha with tarragon concentrate — 2004

Sous chef making the nitro caipirinha in the middle of the dining room

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A bit about me…

I consider food an art form -- chefs are the artists, restaurants are the galleries, and my tastebuds are my "eyes". I constantly seek out flavor combinations that I've never tasted, plating I've never seen, ingredients I've never experienced. Food as art. Food as science. Food as education. Food as entertainment. Food as pleasure. As Julia Child once said, "People who love to eat are always the best people". From my experience, it's true! I am excited to go on this journey of experiment and fun in the kitchen and share my outings to Chicago restaurants and the underground dining scene! Ciao Chow!

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